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PR major keeps college hopes alive through crowdfunding

Leave it to a PR major to figure out a creative way to pay her college expenses.

Alexis-Brianna Felix, a sophomore at Boston University, found herself in a bind last month. Even after loans and other financial aid, she and her family needed $10,000 for her to stay in school for another semester. When Felix saw another student tweet a link to a page on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe looking for funds for a study-abroad trip, she decided that might be an avenue to take.

So Felix consulted with a friend, according to The Boston Globe. Together, they decided to present the crowdfunding campaign not as charity, but as an investment Felix’s future.

Felix launched her GoFundMe page with a goal of $5,000. On the page, she wrote:

It is very much out of my character to ask for much of anyone, especially when it comes to money. But as a very wise woman said to me, "pride is for tomorrow." I need help to continue making my dreams a reality and this is the crucial time when I must ask for it. If you choose to give in any amount, I'd like you to consider it an investment rather than a donation.

That approach has paid off and then some. In 27 days’ time, Felix has raised $9,381—nearly the full $10,000 she needs to pay off the debt—from 217 donors. Donations came from friends from Felix’s high school in the Bronx, Boston University alumni, and total strangers.

Felix just secured an internship working for a PR firm in Boston. Maybe the PR pros there could learn a thing or two from her. Certainly other students are looking to Felix for guidance. Several comments on her GoFundMe page are from students asking how they can similarly fund their college tuitions.